1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to report covers. More particularly, the invention relates to flexible report cover into which loose pieces of paper may be filed. Specifically, the invention relates to a report cover which has a spine that both allow papers to be secured within the cover and allows the cover to be secured into a ring binder.
2. Background Information
It is common for school students to use inexpensive paperboard report covers to store and protect their worksheets and writing paper. These report covers typically comprise a folder which has an internal central spine which includes two-prong fasteners for securing papers therein. The student secures their three-hole punched papers into the report cover by inserting the prongs of the fasteners through the holes in the paper and then through apertures in the spine of the cover. The prongs are separated from each other and pushed into abutting contact with the spine of the cover. The report covers may also include pockets on the insides of the cover for holding loose sheets of paper. Alternatively, the student may use report covers which include Duo-Tang® fasteners, three prong metal fasteners or clamp type fasteners. Students may alternatively store their worksheets inside report covers which only have two pockets in the interior. Some of these two pocket report covers may have three holes punched in the cover to allow the report cover to be secured within a three-ring binder. These report covers, however, do not provide any mechanism for securing loose papers into the covers.
The student typically needs several report covers, using one report cover for each school subject. These report covers are carried around in the student's school bag and, because the covers are typically manufactured from an inexpensive, lightweight material, they tend to get easily damaged and crumpled. The covers therefore fail to serve their purpose as a protective storage device. Furthermore, the student may confuse one report cover with another and consequently bring incorrect papers to a particular class or may lose the entire report cover and its contents.
In order to address this problem, students may alternatively use hardcovered ring binders as a protective storage device for their papers and worksheets. However, in order to separate papers for different subjects, a series of dividers has to be used. This allows the student to store all of their materials, but if they need to remove all of the papers for one subject from the binder, the papers are then simply loose sheets that may become disorganized, lost or damaged.
Alternatively, students may use bound notebooks to ensure that their notes are both secure and protected. These notebooks do not, however, address the need for students to insert loose worksheets, maps or other papers into their notes relating to a particular subject.
There is therefore a need in the art for an inexpensive report cover which allows students to maintain all of their papers relating to one subject therein, but which can also be centrally organized and protected.